In Issue 23

Here at IBRA we are busy with arrangements for the next IBRA Conference being held in Trinidad and Tobago in September. It seems that many Beekeeping and Development readers are planning to participate, and we look forward to meeting you there.

Our aim is for the Conference to provide stimulating mix of opportunities: for discussion, for listening to others’ research and experience, and for looking at the practicalities of beekeeping.

New equipment for straining honey is currently on trial in Tobago, and will be displayed in action at the Conference.

Ripe honey inside the hive is pure, clean and perfect. Maintaining this situation throughout harvesting is the tricky part: all too easily harvested honey picks up scraps of wax and tiny flecks from containers used during processing. Because honey straining can be a sticky and slow job, beekeepers are sometimes tempted to neglect it altogether!

The new equipment, “Strainaway”, is designed to provide a fast way of straining honey without cloths and without the need for excessive temperatures. The equipment consists of interlocking plastic containers, with stainless steel mesh incorporated into the bases of the upper straining units. Honey can be strained through these either by gravity, with hand pump or by applying a vacuum. If found to work well, this equipment could be appropriate for small-scale beekeeping enterprises.

Other Conference plans are given on page seven

As we go to press, the sad news has broken of the Varroa mite being found on honey bees here in the UK. The beekeeping community is depressed by the prospect of treatment of our colonies against Varroa into the foreseeable future. And bee diseases are everywhere spreading: on page six Jan Olsson describes the devastation caused by the recent introduction of Thai sacbrood disease to southern India.

Once again we urge beekeepers everywhere: be aware of your responsibility to do all in your power to ensure that bee diseases are not introduced to new areas.